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Because Everyone Needs Another Magic Fix...

If you love the magical world of the Harry Potter series and the mythical action of the Percy Jackson series, you will also lose yourself in the world of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. But, wait, the well-read reader will say, isn’t he the guy from the first Harry Potter book? Is this some knock-off? Actually, Nicholas and his wife, Perenelle, were real, live people in the 14th century and inspired the legend that they discovered the secret to eternal life when their graves were opened and found empty. Taking this legend and running with it, writer Michael Scott (no, not the guy from The Office) creates a unique world that’s so real you can smell it.

Like most series of this kind, it centers on someone ignorant to the magical world around them, a world you learn about as they learn. In this case, it’s two someones: 15-year-old twins Sophie and Josh. The series begins with The Alchemyst as Sophie and Josh are unwillingly dragged into Nicholas Flamel’s world. They witness the kidnapping of Perenelle and the theft of the mysterious Codex, a book that contains not only the secret of the Flamels’ immortality but also much darker and more dangerous secrets. They make an enemy of John Dee, who used to work for Queen Elizabeth I, and must accompany Nicholas on his journey to save his wife, the book and the world. They meet the teenage inventor of martial arts, along with other “gods” and “goddesses,” both good and bad. The longer they spend in Nicholas’s world, the clearer it becomes that they have the untapped power to play a much larger part in the coming struggles.